called the "Bowling Green," are very slight traces of what may have been a second and outer ditch, a not unlikely precaution to have been taken by the inhabitants of the mound against an attack on this the weakest, because the commanded, side.
The mound on the eastern face, measured from the scarp of the ditch, is about 30 ft. high, but on the western side, where it rises from a lower level, it is about 50 ft., or 92 ft. above the river. The mound and the ditch evidently supported and protected the dwelling of the Saxon lord, and it is probable that upon the platform below, where the Norman king afterwards placed his hall and offices, were lodged the serfs and dependants of the Saxon household. Judging from the close analogy of Leicester, Tamworth, Tutbury, and other earthworks of known date, the earthworks of Guildford may, with great probability, be referred to the earlier part of the tenth century.
The keep, a rectangular structure, covers the eastern slope of the mound, but is placed a little to the south of its central line, so as to allow of a gateway (now gone) at its north-east angle, and a passage up the mound outside the north wall. The east, or lower wall rests on the un- disturbed ground, a little above the level of the scarp of the ditch, and the west, or upper wall upon the edge of the level summit of the mound, nearly the whole of which thus extends undisturbed to the west and north-west of the building. The difference in level of the base of the two faces of the keep is about 15 ft. It is exceedingly rare to find a rectangular keep placed upon an artificial mound. Guildford and Christchurch in Hampshire are the only recorded examples. The latter is built wholly upon it.
The keep stands nearly by the points of the compass, measuring 46 ft. north and south, by 52 ft. cast and west. The wall is perfect to the base of the parapet, a height, on the west front of about 63 ft. The masonry of the lower side contains more ashlar, and is of better quality than the rest, to prevent the structure from slipping. Of the depth of the foundations nothing is known, but the thickness of the wall—at least 11 ft. at the visible base—would serve to distribute the load, and chalk, even when made ground, does not make a bad foundation. There was, no doubt, a risk in placing so heavy a building upon an
